A female snake was found on a family's driveway after EATING her male mate.

The resident called for help after noticing the reptile near her home in the town of Sorell in Tasmania, Australia on February 1.

But when snake rescuer Chris Daly arrived he immediately noticed that there were actually two snakes.

The female copperhead had been mating with the smaller male snake before swallowing him whole. The tail was left sticking out of her mouth.

Chris said: ''When I pulled up I noticed she was a little, well, girthy, and wasn't moving as quickly as you would expect her to.

''She still had the little guy in her mouth and was moving around while the tail was still wriggling around.''

Chris believes the female snake had eaten the male when he tried to mate with her. Due to a scarcity of food caused by drought, the snakes are now engaging in cannibalistic behavior and eating each other.

The female snake was put into a plastic tub and later regurgitated her victim after becoming too agitated to successfully digest it.

Chris added: ''The defence mechanism of a snake is to spew up its food, so when you go to catch them they tend to do that

"Both snakes are now doing fine, the little guy is resting up before we release him."